Space Time Matter Chronicles: The Unexpected Mission
by Dinosaur Soldier
Summary: A squad of soldiers end up in an unexpected mission and relied on improvising to survive an unlikely threat leading to the piercing of the shroud. Note: This story is a pre-requisite for the sequel.
1. Chapter 1

**The Unexpected Mission**

On April 2030, a helicopter transported a squad of five soldiers to a supposedly uninhabited island that was 100,000 miles away from Costa Rica for a military exercise. Once the chopper reached a safe zone, the squad grabbed onto the ropes to slide down to the ground smoothly. This team consisted of grey-haired Sergeant Connor Cooper who took the leading role and armed with a 5.56 mm assault rifle with grenade launcher attached; Private Rick Marlowe who was an easy-going African-American expert computer hacker and sniper; Corporal Joe Haggard a cap-wearing rock-hearted gunner with a 5.56 mm light machinegun; Private James Sully a bald, tough-looking demolisher with a semi-automatic 12 gauge shotgun and RPG 7; and Corporal Egon Johnson the descent-looking, red-haired, well-equipped medic with a 9 mm submachine gun. Each team member was equipped with 9mm pistols with silencers, fragmentation hand grenades, flash bangs, night-vision goggles, and a general purpose tool kit.

First in their exercise was tactical formation and finding cover, which went smoothly for a day and there was nothing for them to shoot. Nightfall after dinner, Marlowe was sent to scout ahead wearing night-vision goggles while the others rest in their camp. He was in fact tired but had to hold on before regrouping. During his scouting task, he discovered a building that he had curiosity on. On his way back, he heard footsteps louder than any modern animal. Marlowe spotted a large brown two-legged reptile with yellow belly that he recognized from a famous movie passing the camp where his teammates were sleeping. "Tyrannosaurus Rex, you got to be kidding me" he thought. The booming woke them and Marlowe told them what he saw, "Guys, you won't believe this. I saw a T-Rex walking pass the camp." They laughed in response except Haggard, "T-Rex does not exist anymore, have you been hallucinating?" questioned Johnson mockingly. "No, I saw it with my own eyes and I will prove it to you," Marlowe spoke with strong belief. "I never seen tracks that enormous before," Cooper spoke in an intriguing tone upon seeing huge tracks. "Those are T-Rex tracks, see" Marlowe used the tracks as evidence. "And how the hell did it get here?" asked Haggard in a rough tone. "During my scouting, I found a building that we can check out," Marlowe told the team. "Get some rest and show us the way," Cooper ordered.

The next day, Marlowe led the team to the building which appears unguarded. As the team advanced through the gatehouse, they came across a devoured corpse of a guard with flies hovering above it. "Aw! That's disgusting" Sully commented and Johnson checked on the mutilated dead body then gave the details, "Something must have ripped his throat and his abdomen simultaneously then fed on him. It has to be a creature smaller than T-Rex but deadlier." "I don't care what the killer is, put a bullet in it, it dies" Haggard spoke coldly preparing his machinegun. "You have to know what enemy we will face first," Cooper reminded. "Let's enter through the vent then find the control room" Marlowe suggested to the point the sergeant agreed. "Good idea, deactivating the security systems won't be difficult." The team first climbed a ladder to the rooftop, took out the vent cover, and entered.

They infiltrated to a control room filled with computers in which Marlowe operated to deactivate the security systems. The others noticed the turning of the door knob and behind the door was a pack of two-legged dinosaurs that were orange with brown stripes like a tiger whereas some of them were black. "Velociraptor, it is the worst one in Jurassic Park," Marlowe recognized the two-legged species having a special sickle-shaped claw on each foot and then returned to concentration on his task. "It looks like they are the ones that ate the guards" Johnson concluded. "These inhuman lizards are more clever than we thought, let's waste them" muttered Haggard as he pulled the trigger when the raptors enter. "Repel those dinosaurs, don't budge an inch!" Cooper ordered as he fired his assault rifle on the carnivores and had his teammates covered Marlowe at all sides. Sully swept the raptors in close and wide range maintaining a defensive position with his shotgun like a broomstick. Rifle bullets inflict more damage than pistol bullets fired from the submachine gun; nonetheless, the floor was littered with bodies and blood. Marlowe focused on the computer despite hearing the noisy gunfire in his surroundings as more Velociraptor came. His team members dodged the raptors' jumping claw attack and kept them at bay. After he was done deactivating the security systems, a blue Velociraptor appeared summoning reinforcements. Marlowe quickly fired a round from his sniper rifle at the mouth of the blue raptor causing the summoned raptors to flee. "That will show them" Haggard spoke triumphantly. "There are more raptors in this building," Marlowe said in an opposite tone. "Then shoot everywhere, you idiot" Haggard ordered arrogantly as the team began moving. "There's got to be survivors and keep your eyes open", Cooper tipped off.

The squad searched for survivors in the ground floor; however they only came across packs of Velociraptor especially the ones that were green with red stripes like a snake. It takes two rounds of shotgun in close range to waste the snake raptors. In most of the rooms, they only find devoured corpses of staff especially some with raptors feasting on them. However when they reached a room, clicking sounds was heard causing the raptors to scurry. "Who's the chicken now." taunted Haggard. "Something more fearsome has scared the raptors away," Johnson made an assumption based on the clicking sounds. "Look at that guy", Marlowe pointed to a man in supine position and the medic checked on him. The victim's ID card written Dan King and the photo match with the actual person. Johnson picked up blood-stained round objects from Dan's ripped belly, "A dinosaur must have laid eggs on the victim and I never seen such behavior before." "Leave them for a science team when we return home," Cooper ordered base on what to do next. "He's still alive," Johnson checked the victim's pulse and Marlowe saw his eyeball moved, "Johnson, his eyeball moved, does it mean he's paralyzed?" "Yes, he's brain dead," the medic had the victim placed into a body bag with an opening for oxygen. "We got company" Sully heard the clicking sounds and squad prepared themselves. Breaking through the vent was a pack of carnivorous dinosaurs that squad had not seen before, they stood to the shoulder of an average person due to having longer necks. The squad opened fire at the carnivores felling the pack, "We got to get out here so they will stop following us" said Cooper considering that leaving their territory would prevent them from pursuing. The team with Johnson and Sully carried the body bag hurried to an elevator firing at any of the new dinosaurs chasing them. The carnivores gave up the chase when the squad took the elevator to upper floors where they continued the search for survivors.

In one of the rooms in the upper floors, the squad found an injured man wearing an employee's blood-stained lab coat by the window. His wounds consisted of a ripped belly and bite marks in the arm. "Who are you? Who sent you?" Cooper demanded. "I am Simon Cross working for the C.I.A. and my older cousin John, a lab assistant, told me that Edmund Turkins is conducting a mad experiment. I infiltrated the facility; John was killed by the dinosaurs and I was attacked by them. I took every research logs and notes so the world has to know about this and I want that son of a bitch brought to justice," explained the infiltrator pointing to the computer. "Take the memory stick and Turkins will pay for this. Leave me alone," Cross called off rescue. A large yellowish-brown carnivorous dinosaur with its spine sticking out grabbed the injured man with its three-clawed hands and swallowed him whole. "I don't think my RPG is needed for this big brute," muttered Sully preparing his shotgun instead. The squad shot that carnivore's arms countering its attack driving it back. "You got to be kidding me," Sully spotted another large black carnivorous dinosaur with red eye ridges heading towards them and unleashed a round of RPG 7, which was sufficient to drive the dinosaur away. "Those two dinosaurs are like partners," Marlowe commented on their behavior and then operated the computer. The hacker copied all the research information including staff data into the memory stick that Cross had plugged into the computer, and then the squad began finding Edmund Turkins, the wanted man.

Edmund Turkins the scientist who was a fan of science fiction and the famous writer, H.G. Wells. After achieving a double major in computer science and engineering from Stanford University, he determined to make science fiction come true. For such project, he used his own cash and savings totaled US$800,000. As he knew that the commercial banks would not make loans to him for the meaningless project, he sought ten loan sharks for loans up to US$200,000. He chose the island to set up the facility preventing the loan sharks from pursuing him and hired staff once construction was finished. He shared his research progress with his family who promised not to tell the world about it. He spent 15 years of research and development to make the project successful.

The squad broke into the main laboratory where Turkins was working and he was unharmed. "What the hell are you doing here? It is foolish of you to come here," he spoke in an aggressive tone. "We were supposed to be in a military exercise until we stumbled across this facility. You must be Edmund Turkins who brought the dinosaurs to our time," Cooper explained. "I have been researching on Space Time Matter and I created a gate allowing these dinosaurs to enter to this facility at ground floor. Now it is closed. I ensured that there will be no whistleblower dares to tell the world about my research and now those smart, brilliant predators enjoyed their buffet," Turkins told the squad briefly about his research. "YOU, INHUMAN BASTARD! THOSE PEOPLE WHOM YOU HIRED ARE HUSBANDS, WIVES, AND PARENTS, IS IT FAIR TO THEIR FAMILY?!" Haggard shouted as he punched Turkins in the face. Sully pulled his rock-hearted teammate away at the time Cooper and Marlowe handcuffed the scientist. "You are coming with us and we will tell the world about it", Marlowe told Turkins in a serious tone. "You can't do this!" Turkins rebuffed but was held by the sergeant.

With the mad scientist secured, the squad entered the administration office where Marlowe emailed the island map and the facility map to their superior, Colonel Ivan Orlan, whom Cooper called using the phone minutes later. "Sir, this is Sergeant Cooper, we had been fighting real life dinosaurs in the island. We need extraction and air support because there are three big hostiles in the island. Marlowe sent you the maps for your reference. We captured Edmund Turkins who set up the facility in this island and is responsible for bringing the dinosaurs to our time. We have all the evidence with us." "I will send a chopper to back you up and the extraction point is the rear of the facility in ground floor. I want you and your unit to bring Turkins alive and I will find a paleontologist who can provide information about the dinosaurs you encountered during your debriefing," the colonel responded and deployed a heavily armed helicopter equipped with twin 7.62mm Gatling guns and missiles to the island.

The team forced the captive to show them the way to the back entrance of the facility. When they got out, the two large dinosaurs that the squad repelled earlier were there. The confrontation was interrupted by the T-Rex to which Cooper, Haggard, Johnson, and Sully could not believe their eyes. "A real T-Rex and a real dinosaur fight," muttered Haggard as the T-Rex and the black dinosaur faced and roared at each other. The famous carnivore find herself clawed and returned her opponent bites. They later roared at each other for the last time then the partner dinosaurs retreated. The T-Rex turned to the squad and the aircraft engine sound was heard. Cooper got the communication device on and the pilot ordered, "Take cover." The chopper fired its Gatling guns to draw the dinosaur's attention and launched a paired of missiles at each both sides of her head causing her to collapse motionlessly. "Thanks, when we get out of here, drinks are in," Cooper communicated to the pilot who quickly landed the aircraft for the squad and the captive to board. The pilot muttered "I know a good bar after the debriefing" as the chopper took off and headed back home. With the helicopter far away, the partner carnivores enjoyed their meal feasting on the dead T-Rex.

"I'm glad all of you survived the dinosaur onslaught that is out of my expectations. Turkin's project is now known in the world and his research data is in the government's custody. The scientist himself is waiting for trial and the victim you brought is in the laboratory for examination. I hired Dr. Alex Horner, a paleontologist, for your debriefing and feel free to ask any questions regarding to the dinosaurs you encountered," Orlan informed the squad as the debriefing began. "Would you mind hatching the eggs for study?" asked Johnson as he handed Dr. Horner the eggs. "What dinosaur species do they belong to?" questioned the paleontologist as the medic drew a rough sketch of the dinosaur as a whole on board. "Troodon, the world's intelligent dinosaur, got its name 'wounding tooth' based its jagged teeth," the paleontologist kept the team informed. "Can I draw the heads of the big partner dinosaurs for you to identify?" Cooper asked then drew the sketches of the two large carnivores. "Acrocanthosaurus got its name for having high spine that gives it strength. Carcharodontosaurus has huge razor-sharp teeth similar to sharks that got its name 'shark tooth lizard'. It is interesting that both species can coexist with each other" Dr. Horner explained pointing to each head, "Any more dinosaurs?" "We know about T-Rex and Velociraptor," Marlowe told the paleontologist.

Turkins hired a lawyer to help bail him out, however in the trial, the jury found him guilty for allowing dinosaurs to carry out man slaughter. The judge sentenced him to eternal life imprisonment starting with 20 years in prison. Though the world knew about the project, he was visited by his family who had the Space Time Matter data secretly.

Dan King's family was shocked to see him brain dead and a blood test was performed. It revealed that King was injected with paralyzing venom making it more difficult for them to accept especially when there was no cure for that.

Dr. Alex Horner worked temporarily at a zoo hatching the Troodon eggs and raised them in a secured environment for study. He knew that those dinosaurs would become dangerous when they grow up; therefore the zoo used the strongest electric fencing to form a pen. When the Troodon grew up, a farmer reluctantly sold him a pig that was used in an experiment. Horner observed the Troodon bit the animal injecting the venom causing it to become delirious before brain death. At the time the pig was paralyzed, the Troodon ripped its belly creating a nest for their eggs. After hatching, their young could feed on the paralyzed pig. The zoo bred those dangerous dinosaurs feeding them with beef, pork, lamb, and poultry. Horner left the job at the zoo leaving the Troodon as a live prehistoric exhibit in the zoo.


	2. Dino Files

Acrocanthosaurus

Length: 12 meters (40 feet)

Weight: 4 tons

Popularity: 4 stars

Period: Early Cretaceous

Found: United States (Oklahoma, Utah, Texas)

This large carnivore got its name for having a high spine that reinforced its strength. It was well-adapted to dry conditions living in groups and hunting large herbivores.

* * *

Carcharodontosaurus

Length: 13 meters (44 feet)

Weight: 6 tons

Popularity: 4 stars

Period: Early Cretaceous

Found: Algeria, Niger, Tunisia

This large African carnivore got its name for having serrated teeth similar to sharks. It had a heavily-muscled spine that gave it strength to grapple with herbivores and attacked with ferocity using its teeth and claws.

* * *

Troodon

Length: 3.35 meters (11 feet)

Weight: 35 kilograms

Popularity: 3 stars

Period: Late Cretaceous

Found: United States (Montana, Wyoming), Canada (Alberta)

This agile predator is the world's intelligent dinosaur, got its name for having jagged edges in its teeth. It relied on sight and scent to stalk their prey.

* * *

Tyrannosaurus Rex

Length: 12.3 meters (40 feet)

Weight: 7 tons

Popularity: 5 stars

Period: Late Cretaceous

Found: China, Mongolia, United States (Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Texas), Canada (Alberta and Saskatchewan)

The T-Rex was one of the world's largest carnivores and was an efficient killer with powerful jaws filled with saw-edged teeth strong enough to crush bone.

* * *

Velociraptor

Length: 2 meters (6.6 feet)

Weight: 15 kilograms

Popularity: 5 stars

Period: Late Cretaceous

Found: Mongolia

This agile and intelligent predator hunted in packs. It was equipped with razor-sharp teeth and a special sickle-shaped claw on each foot used for slashing.


End file.
